1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an aid for teaching a proper baseball swing. In particular, the invention is directed to a structure that helps a user correctly direct a swing of a bat.
2. Description of Related Art
A proper baseball (or softball or T-ball) swing is achieved by a downward motion of the bat until the point of contact (POC) with the ball. After the POC, the motion of the bat should then become either parallel to the ground or slightly upward in trajectory. This is not a natural motion for most people learning how to swing a baseball bat. As such, it takes hours upon hours of repetitive practice to build muscle memory so that this motion becomes natural to the batter.
Presently, some structures exist for practicing a baseball swing. The most common structure is a tee, such as that illustrated in FIG. 1. A tee 10 comprises an upstanding shaft 12 attached to a base 14. The tee 12 has a hollow 16 for receiving a ball. The shaft 12 is at a height commensurate with a baseball strike zone. The tee 10 allows a batter to practice hitting a ball repetitively. However, the tee does not teach proper swing motion to the batter. Nothing is present to stop a bat from swinging upwards from the beginning of the swing motion all the way to the end of the swing motion. Likewise, nothing is present to stop a bat from swinging downwards after the POC. If a person develops a bad swing form using the tee, it will be difficult to learn a proper swing form. He will have formed improper muscle memory that will need correcting.
Attempts to teach a proper swing have included the “instructo swing” which includes a U-shaped bar that is positioned above the ground. The bar is positioned such that the opening of the “U” is pointed at a batter. The “U” is positioned in a plane perpendicular to the ground. The arms can be parallel to the ground or slightly angled so the opening is facing either upwards or downwards, allowing the batter to practice hitting a ball at different heights. If the batter hits the structure during a swing, he will know that his swing is off. This structure does not prevent a batter from using bad form. The batter can hit the ball from a variety of upward or downward angles. His motion is not guided in any manner.
Other structures similar to the U-shaped bar are smaller, typically only a few lengths of a baseball long. (See U.S. Pat. No. 7,662,052.) They are positioned in a similar fashion to the larger U-shaped structure described above. These are positioned at an end of a bar, where an upstanding shaft attaches to the bar near the middle of the bar. These smaller “U” shaped structures may teach a batter to hit a ball at the center location on the bat. If the batter swings too far outward, he will hit the structure. This tells him that his swing is too far. This structure does not teach proper swing motion. A batter using the structure can hit the ball from any angle. His swing motion is not guided.
No structure currently exists that teaches a batter mechanics of a proper full swing. A need exists for a batting aid that helps a batter learn the mechanics of a proper full baseball swing. The present invention fulfills this need.